A Little Curiosity
The Honours of Scotland, kept at Edinburgh Castle, are the oldest surviving crown jewels in Britain, predating the English Crown Jewels by over a century. The crown was made for a Scottish monarch and first worn at a royal coronation in the 16th century. Which monarch wore it first, and how long ago? Answer at the end.
THE ONE TO SEE
Photo source: Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle by Peter Broster, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle, Leicestershire
Ashby-de-la-Zouch Castle has a longer political history than most English ruins get credit for. Developed from a medieval manor and transformed into a castle by William, Lord Hastings, in the 1470s, it was later a Royalist stronghold during the Civil War and slighted by Parliamentary forces in 1648. Hastings himself was summarily executed in 1483 by Richard, Duke of Gloucester, the future Richard III.
What remains is substantial: the Hastings Tower still stands to a considerable height, and the underground passage connecting two of the towers is one of the more unusual features on the English Heritage estate. Walter Scott used the castle as the setting for the tournament scenes in Ivanhoe, which gives you a sense of how it reads in the landscape.
Free to English Heritage members, and rarely crowded even in summer.
Four worth the drive
Photo: Great Dixter by Donar Reiskoffer, CC BY 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Great Dixter House & Gardens, East Sussex
Christopher Lloyd gardened at Great Dixter for more than half a century and turned it into one of the most influential gardens in the country. The Long Border alone is worth the visit, and the house itself is centred on a mid-15th-century timber-framed hall that Lutyens restored and enlarged from 1910–12.
The garden team has kept Lloyd's experimental spirit going since his death in 2006, which means it's never the same twice. If you care about plants at all, this is the real thing.
Photo: Chartwell by Gareth Williams, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Churchill's Studio at Chartwell, Kent
Churchill took up painting in 1915 and never really stopped. Chartwell, his home in the Kent countryside for over forty years, holds the largest single collection of his paintings in one place, gathered in the studio where he actually made them.
The 2026 Inspired by Chartwell display runs alongside Churchill's own canvases. Seeing both together in the house where he lived adds something that a gallery setting wouldn't.
Illustration: AI artistic impression of Leighton Hall
Leighton Hall, Lancashire
Leighton Hall is a Gothic Revival house near Carnforth in Lancashire, home to the Gillow furniture-making family since the early 19th century. Still lived in, it opens for tours from May to September, and the rooms feel inhabited rather than dressed.
The hall sits against a backdrop of the Lakeland fells, and the walled garden and birds of prey displays make it a full afternoon rather than a quick visit.
Photo source: Nymans Garden by Andy Li, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Nymans Garden, West Sussex
Nymans was built up over three generations by the Messel family, and the ruined house at its centre, left roofless after a fire in 1947, gives the place a quality that manicured gardens rarely have. Summer is when the rose garden is at its peak.
One of the better National Trust gardens in the south-east, and it doesn't get the crowds that Sissinghurst does.
Hidden Gem
Photo source: Blists Hill by Gillett's Crossing from Bristol, United Kingdom, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Blists Hill Victorian Town, Shropshire
Blists Hill is a 50-acre open-air museum in the Ironbridge Gorge where the Victorian working-class town is still operating rather than just displayed. The bank accepts old currency, the pub serves ale, the ironworks are running, and the staff are in period dress going about actual trades.
It's part of the Ironbridge Gorge Museums complex, which is celebrating 40 years as a UNESCO World Heritage Site this year, so there's extra reason to visit now. Most people who come to Ironbridge stop at the bridge and leave. This is the bit they should have seen.
As Seen On Screen
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Photo source: Waddesdon Manor by Glen Bowman, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Waddesdon Manor, Buckinghamshire
Waddesdon Manor is one of the most filmed houses in Britain. The Rothschild family's French Renaissance-style château in Buckinghamshire has been appearing on screen since the 1960s. The South Front stood in for Buckingham Palace in The Queen (2006), with Helen Mirren as Elizabeth II.
The Crown Series 5 used the interiors to double as The Ritz in Paris. The Aviary and Parterre feature in Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story. And most recently, the North Front, South Front, and the tunnel all appear in Netflix's Back in Action (2025) with Jamie Foxx and Cameron Diaz.
Beyond the screen connections, the manor was built in the late 19th century to house one of the great private art collections of the Victorian era: Sèvres porcelain, French furniture, Dutch masters, and Flemish tapestries across room after room. It is owned by the National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation.
The rooms that have stood in for palaces, hotels, and royal residences across six decades of film-making are the same ones you walk through on a standard visit. It's worth going with that in mind.
Coming Up…
Bromesberrow Place · Gloucestershire, near Ledbury · Independent
Bromesberrow Place is a Greek Revival house on the edge of the Forest of Dean with a rich social history and gardens that have been largely left to develop on their own terms. Guided tours run on select dates through June and July, covering the house interior, grounds, and the story of the families who lived there. It's the kind of access that rarely comes up for a house of this quality. Book through Ticket Tailor; places are limited.
Holdenby House Tour, Northamptonshire · NN6 · Northamptonshire · Historic Houses
Holdenby House was built in the 1580s as one of the largest houses in Elizabethan England, originally intended to receive Queen Elizabeth I. Charles I was held here as a prisoner in 1647, between his surrender and his eventual trial. Guided tours of the house and Grade I listed gardens run on 17 July, with access to rooms rarely open to visitors. Book through the Historic Houses website; places are limited.
A Summer's Night at the Hall: Wonders of Nature, Burton Constable Hall · East Yorkshire, HU11 · Independent
On 16 July, Burton Constable Hall in East Yorkshire is hosting an evening that starts with talks on the hall's historic Herbarium collection and Capability Brown's influence on the grounds, followed by an open-air concert by the Ebor Quartet. Burton Constable is one of the larger Elizabethan houses in the north of England and is still run by the Chichester-Constable family. An evening event here, with the parkland as the backdrop, is a good reason to make the drive.
Worth Knowing
Visiting Blists Hill and the Ironbridge Gorge Sites
Blists Hill Victorian Town is now operated by the National Trust and visits must be pre-booked. The same applies to Jackfield Tile Museum. Other sites across the Ironbridge Gorge complex have their own opening arrangements.
Check current ticket options and availability on the National Trust website before you travel.
Find Ironbridge Gorge opening times and tickets here.
A Little Curiosity: The Answer
The crown was made for James V and first worn at the coronation of Mary of Guise in 1540, making it 486 years old. The full set of Honours, comprising the crown, sceptre, and sword of state, was hidden under the floorboards of Kinneff Church during the Cromwellian occupation to keep it out of English hands, which is the kind of detail that makes the conservation project feel entirely justified.
A Quick Question
We're nine issues in and starting to plan what Hidden Britain covers next. It would help enormously to know what memberships you hold, so we can make sure we're featuring properties that are actually accessible to you.
Takes about a minute.
That's it for this week. If you get to Blists Hill, go on a weekday if you can: the town feels more alive when it's not at full capacity, and the ironworks are easier to watch properly.
About Us
Rob & Ali
We're Rob and Ali, two heritage enthusiasts who got tired of spending more time researching days out than actually enjoying them. Land & Legacy is our answer: a curated guide to the heritage experiences worth your time.
We're building something bigger behind the scenes, but for now this newsletter is our way of sharing what we find.
Hit reply if you've got a place we should know about.
Until next time,
Remembering the places that matter.